Page:Essays on Catholicism, Liberalism, and Socialism.djvu/116

on the part of God than a grace conferred. Behold the evil it causes in the world.

If we watch the flow, through the prolongation of ages, of the turbid and impure waters of that ocean which bears humanity onward, we shall behold among the leaders of iniquity Adam the rebel, and then Cain the fratricide; and, succeeding them, the multitude of people who reject God and his law; such as the impious, the impure, the incestuous, and adulterers. There are indeed a few worshipers of God and his glory; but they soon forget his greatness and splendor, and they altogether tumultuously embark in that large vessel which has no pilot. The turbulent currents of that vast ocean whirl this excited crowd onward, while they know not whither they go, nor from whence they come, nor what is the name of the vessel that bears them, nor what wind impels them forward. If from time to time a sad, prophetic voice is heard, crying woe to the navigators! woe to the vessel! the ship neither arrests her course, nor do the crew listen, while the wind increases, and the boat commences to burst asunder. Then this frantic crew indulge in frightful orgies, up to that last dread moment when all suddenly ceases; the splendid banquets, frenzied laughter, lewd dances, insensate clamor, the splitting of the vessel, and the roar of the hurricane cease; the ocean overwhelms all, silence reigns over the waters, and the wrath of God over the silent waters.

God again constructs, and the new divine work is again destroyed by human liberty. A son is born to Noah, who puts his father to shame; he curses his son, and with him all his race, which will continue to bear this curse even to the fullness of time. After the deluge recommences the antediluvian disorder; and the sons of